Gregory Michaelidis, MA ’94 & BA ’92

Eye on history

Speechwriter draws on storytelling
and scholarship to craft remarks and Congressional testimony for Janet Napolitano

Story by Mara McGinnis, BA ’97; photos by
Nicholas McIntosh

The first person in his immediate family to
attend college, Gregory Michaelidis, since 2009
the director of speechwriting for Secretary Janet
Napolitano at the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security (DHS), had no idea when
he started his studies where his
career path would take him.

He was first attracted to UB
for its “breadth, affordability and
reputation” and continued on
to complete a graduate program
(both degrees are in history) and then a doctorate
at the University of Maryland, College Park, where
he focused on Macedonian migration to North
America. His father was a refugee from Macedonia
during World War II and ended up in the Buffalo
area, where Michaelidis grew up.

“I have a theory that people gravitate toward
fields that help explain the world to them, and
20th-century history did that for me,” he says,
adding that he would leave UB Professor Michael
Frisch’s class inspired and intrigued.

As for college life outside the classroom, his
soccer aspirations ended when he broke his ankle
the first week of his freshman year, but his writing
career began. He found a home in The Spectrum
offices in the basement of Baldy Hall, where he and
a group of music-fan friends worked as rock critics
reviewing shows for The Prodigal Sun, the paper’s
edgy entertainment weekly. “I’m still a big punk
rock fan,” says Michaelidis, who has since expanded
his musical interests. “I’ve been listening to some
remarkable Balkan brass bands playing a fast mix
of Slavic, Turkish and Gypsy (Roma) music.”

Despite his academic credentials, he hesitates to
use the term “expert” when discussing his professional
life. “I think of myself as more of a historically
informed storyteller,” says Michaelidis, noting
that his areas of scholarly interest include
international migration, national security and the
impact of diasporas. Previously, he held positions
at the Brookings Institution, the Center for Global
Development, and the Hatcher Group—all in the
DC area—and at UB, where he was director of
research and strategic analysis for former President
John B. Simpson.

His job at the Department of Homeland
Security, where he oversees two other writers
within a public affairs staff of about 35 (in total,
DHS has approximately 240,000 people) involves
a “steady stream of speeches and Congressional
testimony” but also a great deal of coordination on
response to tragic incidents, such as the December
2012 shooting in Newtown, Conn. Another difficult
assignment, he recalls, was preparing remarks for
Napolitano to deliver at a memorial for a U.S. Coast
Guard officer killed while investigating drug trafficking
off the coast of Catalina Island.

A highlight moment for Michaelidis in his
current role followed the delivery of a speech he
prepared for Napolitano to give to the Council on
Foreign Relations in 2009. Afterward, he met Ted
Sorensen, the late, legendary speechwriter and
adviser to JFK. “He said to me, ‘Nice to meet you.
It was a very nice speech.’ That was quite a compliment
coming from him.”

Michaelidis notes that the portrayal of DHS in
the news media can seem unfair at times and that
much of the department’s work goes unseen by the
public. “Generally our successes mean that something
bad doesn’t happen or that its effects are mitigated.
The people who work for DHS are remarkably
talented, and often put themselves in harm’s
way to help keep the country and our communities
secure.”

Outtakes

Family

Wife, Tamara Michaelidis, BA ’94, a psychologist (the two met at UB in 1991); and two daughters, Tessa and Raina

Notable personal accomplishment

Completing the Ironman Arizona triathlon in 2008

Favorite clubs during UB days:

Old Pink, Anacone’s and The Continental

Key to productive writing environment

A clean office and plenty of lamps

Entrée into Obama administration

Signing up in 2007 as a campaign volunteer expert to help write briefing papers on foreign policy issues

2012 election-night activity

Watching returns at home on four websites/three television channels (“I’m a bit of a news and information junkie.”)

Writer he admires

The late Christopher Hitchens (“I miss his fearlessness.”)

UB in the News

Indian Ocean debris almost certainly from Boeing 777

7/30/2015 If this is debris from MH370, it will provide families with much
needed closure, says UB's Nancy Smyth.